Abstract Concepts and Semantic Hubs: Exploring the Role of the Anterior Temporal Lobe

Language is central to our daily lives and loss of language can have detrimental effects on daily living. To understand what occurs when language skills are disrupted, I will research how healthy adults process language, and in particular the neurological underpinnings of word meaning. The anterior temporal lobe is a brain region that has been associated with processing word meaning and is thought to be the main source of language loss in semantic dementia. Yet our understanding of this region is based predominantly on research involving nouns that refer to concrete concepts such as “apple”, “chair”, or “flower”. It is less clear how the anterior temporal lobe contributes to processing abstract verb meaning, such as “think”, “love”, or “dissolve”. In the proposed study, I will investigate how the brain’s semantic system is involved in processing abstract compared to concrete verb meaning, and how specific sections of the anterior temporal lobe might be associated with processing different types of abstract verb meaning.

Faculty Supervisor:

Penny Pexman

Student:

Partner:

Bangor University

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Calgary

Program: